The T-Shirt Issue

The most recent attempt at opening an online merchandise store turned into a moderate waste of time. I did get a pretty high quality T-Shirt from Zazzle, as did a couple others, but we all paid twice to three times as much as we should have.

That's not outside the norm. After looking at third party providers I've discovered massive legal problems with some (Cafepress), and huge cost issues with others. This costly cloud has a silver lining, however.

Years ago I was involved in the local print and production industry and after contacting a few stale contacts I found a better way to do this. Long story short, I was able to find a way to produce the Triton T-Shirt for $20.00 including shipping to anywhere in North America.

So, the Triton Crew shirt will make another appearance along with a couple others. They'll be professionally screen printed, pre-shrunk, locally inspected and I'll have my own online store thanks to Paypal. In the next couple months the Spacer Wares shop will be open. If there's something you want that isn't there (and I mean absolutely anything), just tell me about it and I'll probably be able to have it made.

Why open a store or offer merchandise at all? The demand for T-Shirts is actually growing, in fact I already have an order from a squad from the US Army. I personally like the shirts, I think they look pretty good and I have some interesting ideas. It's a great way to spread the word, and that's why I'm not doing this for the money. In fact, Zazzle's minimum royalty was too high for my liking, which is another reason why I'm shutting down my store there.

After shipping I'll make an average of $1.00 per shirt or other item and I don't care to earn more on that end of things, simply because it's not what I do for a living. As I've said before, no one needs this stuff, but it's very cool to have it around just in case you want it, especially since this series will be around a long time and it's looking more and more likely that it'll spread to other entertainment mediums. It will be nice if some of the early adopters have the first T-Shirts to show that they were there first, they had a hand in supporting me and my little science fiction series before everyone else discovered it.

To the couple people who bought the Zazzle shirts (and I know who you are), you'll be getting a private message from me with a request for your address so I can send you something special before Christmas.

One thing I've discovered through this whole process is that the more hands on I get with the store, the less it costs everyone, and the better things turn out. I'm just glad it isn't taking much time day to day, or I would have had to scrap the entire idea. Anything that gets in the way of writing isn't worth the time, in my opinion.

I'll announce the grand opening of the Spacer Wares store as soon as it's ready. You'll find more than T-Shirts when it's up and running.

None of the eBook or printed edition listings will be affected by this stuff.

Now, back to work on Broadcast 7!

RL

[Other than T-Shirts, what would you like to see in the Spacer Wares store? Signed books, loaded USB drives, posters, a Command and Control Unit?]

Spacerwares Is Open - Merchandise From The Spinward Fringe Series

make custom gifts at Zazzle

You've probably seen the store listing at the bottom of the blog with outrageously expensive merchandise. It all started when I whacked my favourite coffee mug across the room while turning around and it exploded into a bazillion pieces. 

I had an idea: Use a few graphics to make a custom one. While I was doing that I decided to make a poster out of the cover of Spinward Fringe Broadcast 6: Fragments, since the artwork looked really good on the print edition. Before long I had two products on my brand new Zazzle page.

Why Zazzle? Their prices were competitive and they didn't charge me a fee to have a larger store like some other services. Sadly, all the prices are still way above what I'd expect anyone to pay, but I don't have the funding to order bulk T-Shirts or the shelf space to have 24 coffee mugs fired. I still couldn't resist ordering a coffee mug for myself, and I drink out of it very carefully.

A while ago someone mentioned T-Shirts on the Facebook page and I went shopping for solutions. Again, Zazzle is expensive, but the quality is there, and most other providers charge more or less within a dollar or two. Some day I'll be able to either find a provider who offers things at a decent price or I'll have the cash to order in bulk so you can get these things at a more reasonable price, but for now, the T-Shirts, a mug and a poster are available.

If anyone knows of a better provider (not Cafepress!), feel free to suggest them. Until then, my Samson Crew T-Shirt is on the way and I'm carefully drinking out of my Spinward Fringe Rogue Element Trilogy mug. When I finish writing this book I'll probably go find a few quotes and put them on something, I'm sure Minh has said something Merch-worthy.

In conclusion: There are several shirts and a hoodie in the store. If I didn't match your heart's desire, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments!

RL

[If you're not eager enough to order stuff for these high prices, just wait until November. I'll be putting in a bulk order with a real print company and the T-Shirts will be about half the price from me directly. My target price will be about $20.00 in the US or CAN with shipping.]